Strength training: Power for the long run

Triathletes with a small time budget cannot avoid strength training. Working on your power is particularly important in autumn and winter. This is how the basis for a stable and injury-free new season is laid. However, strength training is only effective if you incorporate it correctly into your training. How to do it.

Why strength training

Power is work per time. Work is defined as force times displacement. For us triathletes, this means that if you want to perform better, you have to use more force over the same distance. With the right strength training, you can increase your strength level and thus your performance.

The goal of triathletes should be to achieve the highest possible strength-to-mass ratio. Gaining weight is usually not a good idea. Much more should be achieved that with the same body weight, the strength level is increased. If you have more strength, you can swim harder, ride thicker gears and run faster.

Other effects of strength training for the triathlete

In competition, more strength leads to slower muscle fatigue. In addition, a well-trained musculature prevents injuries and the executing movements in the three individual disciplines become more dynamic. Another plus point: the better your muscles are developed, the less bones, ligaments and tendons have to cushion the body when running and are therefore protected.

What happens with weak muscles?

A runner with weak muscles will buckle at the hips with every foot contact with the ground. This slows down the running movement unnecessarily. A buckling in the hip, in turn, means that he then has to use extra strength to straighten the body again. Only then can he accelerate again.

So if you have more power, you buckle less, have more power left for propulsion and are definitely faster. The approach is similar for the swim and bike disciplines. When swimming, too, better muscles mean that the athlete is less likely to buckle and therefore be able to swim straight ahead better. A snake movement of the legs is typical of weak muscles, as is often the case.

When and how should strength training appear in the training plan?

Basically, strength training makes sense all year round, but you should adjust the focus to the respective training period. The more general the training is (especially early in the training season), the more sensible it is to use weights in the form of bars or equipment in the gym. In order to build strength, you have to do quite intense strength training. This in turn is counterproductive for the other training, since the regeneration times are relatively high and because the adjustment takes a little longer than with a "simple" running unit.

Get more specific as you progress

While comprehensive and general strength training forms a good basis in autumn and winter, the training changes in the new year. As competition approaches, strength training should be more specific. That is, it should be directly related to in the appropriate sports. A strength endurance unit could then look like this: pedaling a long gear at about 60 revolutions per minute, swimming with paddles or a running unit with mountain parts.

Typical Procedure for a Weighted Strength Session (Advanced)

• The weight should be 60 to 75 percent of your maximum strength
• The weight should be moved quickly and slowly in a controlled manner
• The duration of a series should be about 8 to 15 repetitions and lead to severe local exhaustion, i.e. the last pull on the weight should just be possible.
• Rest between sets should be 2 to 4 minutes
• And in total there should be about 3 to 6 sets per exercise

Typical procedure for a strength endurance session with weights

• Improving endurance!
• The weight should be 50 to 60 percent of your maximum strength
• The weight should be moved briskly to quickly (but controlled!).
• The duration of a series should last about 1 to 2 minutes and lead to local exhaustion, i.e. the last pull on the weight should just be possible.
• Rest between sets should be 3 to 10 minutes
• And in total there should be about 3 to 5 sets per exercise

For advanced users: Intramuscular coordination

Anyone who has already achieved a good level of strength endurance can also try to optimize their intramuscular coordination as the training progresses.

What should intramuscular coordination training achieve?

Let's take the pedaling motion on a bicycle as an example. With every turn of the pedals that we do, not all muscle fibers of the thigh muscle are always addressed, but only a section, a certain number. The next rotation uses a different portion of the thigh muscle fibers. This results in a recovery for the individual muscle fibers that are not being used at the moment.

However, the goal is to address as many fibers of the muscle as possible at the same time and thereby achieve a higher level of strength with the same mass. And it is precisely this mobilizing as many muscle fibers as possible at the same time that should be the goal of this form of training. However, this form of strength training is only intended for advanced users who are already at a good strength level. Used too early, it can be harmful to the musculoskeletal system and cause joint or muscle pain.

What does intramuscular strength training with weights look like?

• The weight should be 90 to 100 percent of your maximum strength
• The weight should be moved quickly with explosive force
• The duration of a series should be about 1 to 5 repetitions.
• The break between sets should be 3 to 5 minutes, but it can be longer
• And in total there should be about 5 to 12 sets per exercise

Conclusion

• Strength endurance training should be part of the training plan for every triathlete.
• Strength training, just like basic endurance or basic speed, should be planned more at the beginning of the training plan or year.
• First train the general musculature, then become more specific.
• Strength endurance should first be trained and at the appropriate level, intramuscular training units can follow.
• As with any training, the training program should be adapted to the level of the athlete, otherwise overloading can occur too quickly.